Download or read book The Fascination of Birds written by William Young and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2014-06-18 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roadrunners are known from cartoons. Ravens are known to poetry lovers. Eagles are known as figures in ancient mythology and as modern national symbols. Birds have fascinated people throughout history. This captivating collection of 99 essays offers a well-researched but easy-to-read look at birds as familiar as the sparrow and as seldom-seen as the albatross, from dancing varieties (crane) to sacred ones (ibis) to those associated with practical jokes and assassinations (snipe). Alphabetically arranged by type of bird, the essays combine the author's extensive field experience with reflections drawn from biology, ecology, literature, music, history, linguistics, politics, sports, entertainment, and other areas. References range from Homer's description of a cormorant in flight to mentions of birds in Monty Python sketches; from the filmmaking of Alfred Hitchcock to the music of Robyn Hitchcock. No previous knowledge of birds is necessary to appreciate the book, which is illustrated with classic images from John James Audubon's The Birds of America.
Download or read book The Art of Birds written by Jim Miller and published by . This book was released on 2021-03-23 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Captivating views of birdlife In photographs that surprise with their eye-catching composition and amaze with their detail, The Art of Birds captures the beauty of birds as most people never see them. Jim Miller focuses his camera lens on distinctive and spectacular species found in the wetlands and along the shorelines of Florida and the southeast, portraying their behaviors in their natural habitats. Ranging from striking portraits to high speed stop-action shots, the images showcase the splendor of large birds such as the anhinga, great blue heron, sandhill crane, snowy egret, osprey, and flamingo. They also depict the charm of smaller species including the ruddy turnstone, boat-tailed grackle, and the least bittern. Many of the photographs display brilliant plumage up close. Others show aspects of bird life related to courting, feeding, and flying. Accompanying the images are descriptions of the species by early naturalists and ornithologists, from William Bartram to John James Audubon to Arthur Cleveland Bent. The excerpts from their narratives and journals reveal bird populations and environments that we can only imagine today, providing an homage to Old Florida through the perspectives of some of its most astute and eloquent chroniclers. Miller's captivating photography encourages viewers to marvel at the elegant combination of form and function in bird species, perfected by processes of adaptation and selection over millions of years. The Art of Birds celebrates the creativity of nature, the joy of observation, and the richness of birdlife.
Download or read book The Fascination of Birds written by William Young and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2014-05-05 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This captivating collection of 99 essays offers a well-researched but easy-to-read look at birds as familiar as the sparrow and as seldom-seen as the albatross, from dancing varieties (crane) to sacred ones (ibis) to those associated with practical jokes and assassinations (snipe). The book combines extensive field experience with reflections drawn from biology, literature, music, history, politics, and other areas.
Download or read book Birds and People written by Mark Cocker and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-03-17 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are 10,500 species of bird worldwide and wherever they occur people marvel at their glorious colours and their beautiful songs. We also trap and consume birds of every kind. Yet birds have not just been good to eat. Their feathers, which keep us warm or adorn our costumes, give birds unique mastery over the heavens. Throughout history their flight has inspired the human imagination so that birds are embedded in our religions, folklore, music and arts. Vast in both scope and scale, Birds and People explores and celebrates this relationship and draws upon Mark Cocker’s 40 years of observing and thinking about birds. Part natural history and part cultural study, it describes and maps the entire spectrum of our engagements with birds, drawing in themes of history, literature, art, cuisine, language, lore, politics and the environment. In the end, this is a book as much about us as it is about birds. Birds and People has been stunningly illustrated by one of Europe’s best wildlife photographers, David Tipling, who has travelled in 39 countries on seven continents to produce a breathtaking and unique collection of photographs. The book is as important for its visual riches as it is for its groundbreaking content. Birds and People is also exceptional in that the author has solicited contributions from people worldwide. Personal anecdotes and stories have come from more than 650 individuals in 81 different countries. They range from university academics to Mongolian eagle hunters, and from Amerindian shamans to some of the most celebrated writers of our age. The sheer multitude of voices in this global chorus means that Birds and People is both a source book on why we cherish birds and a powerful testament to their importance for all humanity.
Download or read book Birds of Paradise written by Tim Laman and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this dazzling photo essay, Laman and Scholes present gorgeous full-color photographs of all 39 species of the Birds of Paradise that highlight their unique and extraordinary plumage and mating behavior.
Download or read book My Book of Birds written by Geraldo Valério and published by Groundwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning album of some of the most beautiful birds in North America. Geraldo Valério is an artist who loves birds, from majestic Golden Eagles and Snowy Owls to brilliant cardinals and jays to the tiniest of hummingbirds. Here he presents his favorites, with beautiful collage illustrations and brief descriptions that highlight intriguing facts about each one. The illustrations show a variety of feathered creatures in their natural habitats as they hunt for food, impress their mates, nest, and care for their young. The concise, accessible text provides information ranging from clever techniques for finding food to remarkable physical features to fascinating behaviors. But above all, Geraldo Valério shares his passion for birds in this lovingly created album, inspiring young readers with their beauty and the excitement of discovery. Includes an introduction, glossary, index and sources for further information. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.4 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
Download or read book The Strange Birds of Flannery O Connor written by Amy Alznauer and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I intend to stand firm and let the peacocks multiply, for I am sure that, in the end, the last word will be theirs.” —Flannery O’Connor When she was young, the writer Flannery O’Connor was captivated by the chickens in her yard. She’d watch their wings flap, their beaks peck, and their eyes glint. At age six, her life was forever changed when she and a chicken she had been training to walk forwards and backwards were featured in the Pathé News, and she realized that people want to see what is odd and strange in life. But while she loved birds of all varieties and kept several species around the house, it was the peacocks that came to dominate her life. Written by Amy Alznauer with devotional attention to all things odd and illustrated in radiant paint by Ping Zhu, The Strange Birds of Flannery O’Connor explores the beginnings of one author’s lifelong obsession. Amy Alznauer lives in Chicago with her husband, two children, a dog, a parakeet, sometimes chicks, and a part-time fish, but, as of today, no elephants or peacocks. Ping Zhu is a freelance illustrator who has worked with clients big and small, won some awards based on the work she did for aforementioned clients, attracted new clients with shiny awards, and is hoping to maintain her livelihood in Brooklyn by repeating that cycle.
Download or read book An Enchantment of Birds written by Richard Cannings and published by Greystone Books Ltd. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In these delightful meditations, biologist and bird lover Richard Cannings weaves stories of his personal encounters with birds into fascinating descriptions of their behavior, anatomy, and evolution. He muses over the meadowlarks’ ability to hide their nests so completely that he has seen only two in a lifetime spent searching for them; the trumpeter swan, as picky as a two-year old, devouring potatoes and carrots but turning up its beak at Brussels sprouts; the northern gannet, with its snowy plumage, black wingtips, and startling blue eyes; the little saw-whet owl, which dabbles in bigamy and even trigamy; and more than two dozen other birds. Covering the entire continent, from the cacophony of a seabird colony on the shores of the Atlantic to a symphony of snow geese on the autumn plains to songbird courtship in the alpine tundra of the Rockies, An Enchantment of Birds informs and entertains, in one fell swoop.
Download or read book The Meaning of Birds written by Simon Barnes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of our most eloquent nature writers offers a passionate and informative celebration of birds and their ability to help us understand the world we live in. As well as exploring how birds achieve the miracle of flight; why birds sing; what they tell us about the seasons of the year and what their presence tells us about the places they inhabit, The Meaning of Birds muses on the uses of feathers, the drama of raptors, the slaughter of pheasants, the infidelities of geese, and the strangeness of feeling sentimental about blue tits while enjoying a chicken sandwich.From the mocking-birds of the Galapagos who guided Charles Darwin toward his evolutionary theory, to the changing patterns of migration that alert us to the reality of contemporary climate change, Simon Barnes explores both the intrinsic wonder of what it is to be a bird—and the myriad ways in which birds can help us understand the meaning of life.
Download or read book Summer Birds written by Margarita Engle and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-04-27 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of a young girl living in the Middle Ages who took the time to observe the life cycle of butteflies--and in so doing disproved a theory that went all the way back to ancient Greece. Includes historical note.
Download or read book Global Birding written by Les Beletsky and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2010 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustrated with 30-40 photographs and artwork and a map, this book helps you discover where the birds are whether in Mexico and southern Europe or in the distant, mythic Galapagos, Korea, and Antarctica.
Download or read book The Children s Book of Birds written by Olive Thorne Miller and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Birds of a Feather written by Jane Yolen and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Birds offer endless fascination for those of us patient or lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Fortunately, award-winning writer Jane Yolen and photographer Jason Stemple once again give readers the chance to closely observe a brand-new flock of these creatures in expertly rendered poetry and photographs. Each poem and picture combination beautifully and thoughtfully captures both bird and a moment of time. Brief facts about each bird, reviewed by an ornithologist, are included.
Download or read book Aaaaw to Zzzzzd The Words of Birds written by John Bevis and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The distinctive and amazing songs and calls of birds: a meditation and a lexicon. “A miraculous little book: a compressed encyclopedia of our fascination with avifauna.” —The Nation “A charming, funny, and eccentric book.” —Times Literary Supplement “An elegant tribute to the beauty of its subject.” —Los Angeles Times Birds sing and call, sometimes in complex and beautiful arrangements of notes, sometimes in one-line repetitions that resemble a ringtone more than a symphony. Listening, we are stirred, transported, and even envious of birds' ability to produce what Shelley called “profuse strains of unpremeditated art.” And for hundreds of years, we have tried to write down what we hear when birds sing. Poets have put birdsong in verse (Thomas Nashe: “Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo”) and ornithologists have transcribed bird sounds more methodically. Drawing on this history of bird writing, in Aaaaw to Zzzzzd John Bevis offers a lexicon of the words of birds. For tourists in Birdland, there could be no more charming phrasebook. Consulting it, we find seven distinct variations of “hoo” attributed to seven different species of owls, from a simple hoo to the more ambitious hoo hoo hoo-hoo, ho hoo hoo-hoo; the understated cheet of the tree swallow; the resonant kreeaaaaaaaaaaar of the Swainson's hawk; the modest peep peep peep of the meadow pipit. We learn that some people hear the Baltimore oriole saying “here, here, come right here, dear” and the yellowhammer saying “a little bit of bread and no cheese.” Bevis, a poet, frames his lexicons—one for North America and one for Britain and northern Europe—with an evocative appreciation of birds, birdsong, and human attempts to capture the words of birds in music and poetry. He also offers an engaging account of other methods of documenting birdsong—field recording, graphic notation, and mechanical devices including duck calls and the serinette, an instrument used to teach song tunes to songbirds. The singing of birds is nature at its most sublime, and words are our medium for expressing this sublimity. Aaaaw to Zzzzzd belongs in the bird lover's backpack and on the word lover's bedside table, an unexpected and sui generis pleasure.
Download or read book A Place for Birds Third Edition written by Melissa Stewart and published by Holiday House. This book was released on 2024-08-20 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest updated edition of this fact-filled, colorful look at the amazing world of birds includes two brand new illustrations and a call to action to protect these beautiful creatures. In simple yet informative language, A Place for Birds introduces young readers to the ways human action or inaction can affect bird populations and opens kids’ minds to a wide range of environmental issues. Describing various examples, the text provides an intriguing look at birds, at the ecosystems that support their survival, and at the efforts of some people to save them. At the end of the book, the author offers readers a list of things they can do to help protect these special creatures in their own communities.
Download or read book Crazy for Birds written by Misha Maynerick Blaise and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exuberant and vibrant illustrated exploration of birds and our relationships with them From the Common Swift, which can stay in the air continuously without landing for up to ten months at a time, to the tiny Goldcrest, Europe's smallest bird, which can lay a clutch of a dozen eggs in two weeks totaling one-and-one-half times its body weight, the class of animals we call birds is filled with incredible feats of beauty, intellect, and wonder. With enthralling facts, humorous anecdotes, and gorgeous artwork, artist Misha Blaise pays loving homage to these amazing beings that populate our skies and share the planet with us. Using her own adoration of birds as a starting point to explore avian minutiae both strange and fascinating, Blaise winds through the interconnectedness between humans and our feathered friends, from the eccentric people who obsess about birds to the compelling ways people have integrated birds into culture throughout history, as well as our similar behaviors, kindred intelligence, and shared habitats. Thoughtful, philosophical, and delightful, Crazy for Birds pairs beautiful artwork with whimsical writing to explore the many wonders of birds, shedding light on our abiding connection with nature, the diversity of life, and the idiosyncrasy of the human psyche.
Download or read book Birdology written by Sy Montgomery and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-08-04 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet the ladies: a flock of smart, affectionate, highly individualistic chickens who visit their favorite neighbors, devise different ways to hide from foxes, and mob the author like she's a rock star. In these pages you'll also meet Maya and Zuni, two orphaned baby hummingbirds who hatched from eggs the size of navy beans, and who are little more than air bubbles fringed with feathers. Their lives hang precariously in the balance-but with human help, they may one day conquer the sky. Snowball is a cockatoo whose dance video went viral on YouTube and who's now teaching schoolchildren how to dance. You'll meet Harris's hawks named Fire and Smoke. And you'll come to know and love a host of other avian characters who will change your mind forever about who birds really are. Each of these birds shows a different and utterly surprising aspect of what makes a bird a bird-and these are the lessons of Birdology: that birds are far stranger, more wondrous, and at the same time more like us than we might have dared to imagine. In Birdology, beloved author of The Good Good Pig Sy Montgomery explores the essence of the otherworldly creatures we see every day. By way of her adventures with seven birds-wild, tame, exotic, and common-she weaves new scientific insights and narrative to reveal seven kernels of bird wisdom. The first lesson of Birdology is that, no matter how common they are, Birds Are Individuals, as each of Montgomery's distinctive Ladies clearly shows. In the leech-infested rain forest of Queensland, you'll come face to face with a cassowary-a 150-pound, man-tall, flightless bird with a helmet of bone on its head and a slashing razor-like toenail with which it (occasionally) eviscerates people-proof that Birds Are Dinosaurs. You'll learn from hawks that Birds Are Fierce; from pigeons, how Birds Find Their Way Home; from parrots, what it means that Birds Can Talk; and from 50,000 crows who moved into a small city's downtown, that Birds Are Everywhere. They are the winged aliens who surround us. Birdology explains just how very "other" birds are: Their hearts look like those of crocodiles. They are covered with modified scales, which are called feathers. Their bones are hollow. Their bodies are permeated with extensive air sacs. They have no hands. They give birth to eggs. Yet despite birds' and humans' disparate evolutionary paths, we share emotional and intellectual abilities that allow us to communicate and even form deep bonds. When we begin to comprehend who birds really are, we deepen our capacity to approach, understand, and love these otherworldly creatures. And this, ultimately, is the priceless lesson of Birdology: it communicates a heartfelt fascination and awe for birds and restores our connection to these complex, mysterious fellow creatures
